Charlize at the Bottom of the World

Sorry, actresses who look like normal people: Charlize Theron seems to have cornered the market on your jobs. I mean, come on -- it's not like normal people can magically get all hot and take her "Gorgeous Woman Needed" roles, but she comes waltzing in and, like, puts one some makeup, or gains a little weight and Bam!, suddenly she's one of us. That bitch. After the Academy-loved successes that were Monster and North Country, Theron is now taking on The Ice at the Bottom of the World (based on a short story and screenplay by Mark Richard), in which she'll play "a heroin addict and out-of-control single mother," a role that you know will mean a lot of greasy hair, big bags under the eyes, and perhaps a tabloid-worthy weight loss to make her look appropriately smack-loving skeletal. As Karina reported early this year, Theron has owned the rights to the story for a long time, so it's clearly something about which she feels quite strongly. Well, either that or she read it and thought "Oscar!".

The film is being directed by Alan Parker, and Theron's character actually sounds like something of a supporting figure in the story. The focus will be on her character's father, "a grizzled Navy captain" who has been forced against his will to retire due to ill health.